So recently I've moved out of an apartment that was completely infested with bb's. My roommate and myself took all the proper procedures. the apt. was treated, we washed our clothes three times in hot water and dried them three time, ect... We moved out of that apt 6 days after we broke out in bites. Now in the new apartment, from the looks of it seemed to be bb free. but recently I've found a couple scattered bb on the carpet, or on my purse when it was placed on the floor. Both of our mattresses are rapped in the bb protective cover. We took all caution when moving into a new apartment, or at least I thought so... I've vacuumed and searched the carpet, and still I have found no fecal matter or anything of that sort on the walls or on my bed.

Well to get to the point, I have no bites, I've been in the new apartment for 2 months now. I know for sure these are bedbugs, and my question is; is it possible to just have a couple bed bugs??

I think I've found a total of 4 bugs, and again I dont have bites. I know that they travel and they may of traveled on my suitcase or some other article of furniture, but is it possible to have just a couple bugs, and not an infestation? Also these bb are rather large, in the adult stage of life. This is why again I ask this question.

Bed bugs are usually very difficult to spot. If you're finding them out in the middle of the carpet and climbing on your purse, it's extremely likely that either your apartment was treated with poison the bed bugs find repulsive, or that you have a significant infestation.

The bugs that I have found are alive. Everyone in the complex, well 4plex have said there has never been any sort of bug problem. I don't think that my apartment has been treated, but at the same time my last apartment was completely infested, in which they left their fecal matter all over the baseboards. I haven't found any evidence of blood or droppings. Im worried that they might of come over on my suitcase, which I highly doubt becuase it was in a completely different room than the bb's. But I 'm still curious to why or how I have randon bb's around. I heard that using a blow dryer and holding it up against the baseboards tends to lead the bb's out, because they are heat sensitive. But I also heard that to get rid of them you use the gel packets that are found in like beef jerkey as a dehydrating agent..? who knows?I've searched my room almost every night, and finding the bb's is so random. I cant sleep at night because I imagine them crawling on me, so I find myself getting up and turning on the lights, and again nothing is there. Is there any solution to finding out whether or not I actually have an infestation without having someone come look at it??

If you had a significant infestation in your last apartment, just keeping a suitcase in a different room was not at all an effective measure of preventing infestation of that suitcase.

Any PCO you call will consider the fact that you found four live bed bugs crawling around enough evidence to confirm that you have an infestation, and a significant one, at that, assuming you've correctly identified the bugs.

If your finding them, then you should probably start battle. Carpet it probably not as good for them as wood floors, so they could get caught up and therefor be easier to catch. I've never seen a live bug, but i catch spider beetles all the time and they freak me out none the less.

It's very, very difficult to move without taking bed bugs with you because of the nature of the bugs. Because the bugs hide except when they are feeding, and because they can hide in such tiny spaces, unless people take really extreme precautions like Vikaning or thermally treating the truck, or very very closely inspecting things that can't be treated, and/or packtiting or drying items before putting them into airtight containers, it's pretty easy to take hitch hikers with you when you move.

I would see about getting a PCO who knows his or her way around bed bugs in to inspect the new place.

The problem with bed bugs is that even if you only have a few now, if any one of them is an impregnated adult female or if you have one adult male and one adult female,in a very short amount of time, they will reproduce and create a full blown infestation.

t13dizzle - 1 hour ago »
Does anyone know if the whole silica gel thing works????
I am a college student and the pricy fee of $499 for just the first treatment isn't very wallet friendly, especially on my budget!
Thanks for all the advice!
I think I may have a huge problem on my hands

I'm pretty sure when you talk about silica that you actually mean diatomaceous earth, which is a white powder. Just search for it on this site. It's also referred to as DE.

Read the FAQs extensively before deciding to self-treat, and (if you must) what to use -- we have FAQs on DIY treatment and on steaming and DE, with some suggestions. Self-treating is not easy and requires lots of research (in advance) and then hard work. If you can get someone experienced to do the work, I would strongly recommend it.

never_again - 3 days ago »
I'd be interested in seeing a picture, also if you have no bites i would make absolutely sure they are BB before self-treating

I know for sure that they are bedbugs, I've seen them up close and person. The only problem being that, again I have no bites, and I haven't found any in my bed, even though I'm super paranoid now and can't get a full nights sleep over these fast moving critters. I've found them like aimlessly moving on the floor. I found on next to my light cord, and it jsut sat there. I dont understand. My other apt had such a huge infestation I found fecal matter, and a number of bugs in my bed (I wrapped it and threw it away) but at this new place, there have no such problems...just seeing the actual bedbug itself. But I'll link a picture

Nobugsonme - 4 days ago »
DrFrank is right that --assuming you are identifying the specimens properly, 4 adult bed bugs IS an infestation.
You found four: finding them is tricky -- some people are bitten for months and find NONE. Finding four suggests you have many more.

Agreed. We were getting bitten several days before we saw any evidence of even one little nymph. After 5 days of bites, I found my first adult--which puzzles me since we traced the day we may have brought them in and no adult should be present yet, unless this was one of the original male adults after a feed. After I found the first nymph (and I've only found about 3 at varying stages of molting since then), I scheduled a PCO treatment plan. The sooner you treat this, the better.

Do you have a credit card? I know that getting into debt isn't always a good thing, but this is serious situation that can lead to much more heartache and expense if not handled properly and quickly. If you're going to spend money (or owe it to someone else), you might want to consider using available credit. Just be sure you pay it off in time.

Orkin offered me financing over time with a very reasonable monthly payment quote. They had, by far, the most expensive overall quote, but the financing option was very attractive.

I've been in this apt for over 2 months now, and still no bites. I have jsut seen the bb's out in the open. I've done all the self help treatments, over the weekend. I re cleaned everything, bagged everything up, vaccumed and sprayed a mixture of stuff from someone elses forum. I've taken all the steps, and I've yet to see another bug, and again I havent had any bites from day 1. Not 1 bite. And I know what they look like, because the last apt I was in was completely infested. So I'm just at a stand still. With some sleepless nights and a huge false iching sensation...I just need to sleep. But if I do find another bug, Im going to have to leave this to the pros, take a step back and go into some debt. Thanks for all the help!

Nobugsonme - 4 days ago »
DrFrank is right that --assuming you are identifying the specimens properly, 4 adult bed bugs IS an infestation.
You found four: finding them is tricky -- some people are bitten for months and find NONE. Finding four suggests you have many more.

Agreed. We were getting bitten several days before we saw any evidence of even one little nymph. After 5 days of bites, I found my first adult--which puzzles me since we traced the day we may have brought them in and no adult should be present yet, unless this was one of the original male adults after a feed. After I found the first nymph (and I've only found about 3 at varying stages of molting since then), I scheduled a PCO treatment plan. The sooner you treat this, the better.
Do you have a credit card? I know that getting into debt isn't always a good thing, but this is serious situation that can lead to much more heartache and expense if not handled properly and quickly. If you're going to spend money (or owe it to someone else), you might want to consider using available credit. Just be sure you pay it off in time.
Orkin offered me financing over time with a very reasonable monthly payment quote. They had, by far, the most expensive overall quote, but the financing option was very attractive.

If you found the bedbugs on the floor moving aimlessly, maybe they are coming from your neighbours - check with them and see if they were recently treated. Maybe the bugs aren't biting because they are dying.

Yeah that is sorta interesting, i can't imagine finding them just wandering around. That would be like finding the devil taking a stroll in the park. Save a specimen, you might need it later prove to a PCO, LL, or neighbor.

No bites eh? does you bed have monitors/some isolation on it to keep them from getting to you or are they just unmotivated?